Secrets, Confessions & Revealations
by The Man Known as nWore
Summary: Ash, Serena & company are in the middle of their Kalos journey when Ash stops to participate in a tournament in Shalour City. But just what happens when someone from Ash's childhood also appears in the tournament? Secrets are revealed that his friends never thought could be true. AmourShipping vs FurtherShipping
1. Chapter 1

Secrets, Confessions &amp; Revealations

My 1st story, so please go easy on me. Also, here are the ages:

Ash: 15

Serena: 15

Clemont: 17

Bonnie: 8

Chapter 1: Challenge

It had been a wild last few days for Ash Ketchum. 1st off, on route to next gym battle, he met Korrina &amp; her Lucario and Clemont revealed to Ash that she was the Shalour City Gym Leader. After arriving in Shalour City, he prepared himself to face Korrina &amp; her Lucario which could Mega-Evolve, so Ash spent a few days training his pokemon in preparation. During that training, Fletchling evolved into Fletchinder, which Ash was ecstatic about since being a Flying/Fire dual type, would have a advantage against Lucario being a Fighting/Steel dual type. However, as a added bonus, Froakie evolved iuto Frogadier. Things certainly weren't easy for Ash, especially when Lucario Mega-Evolved and took out Fletchinder, but somehow, like he always seems to, he was able to defeat her. After the battle, Korrina decided to give Lucario to Ash because she was impressed with the bonds that Ash shared with not only Pikachu, but all his pokemon and also because Lucario had been interested in Ash since meeting him &amp; traveling with him alongside Korrina and after the battle, he wanted him to be his trainer now. Korrina was sure that Ash would have no problem mastering Mega-Evolutions. That made Ash wonder what other pokemon were capable of Mega Evolutions.

The next morning, Ash was up early, eager to set out to his next gym battle when he noticed a poster advertising a tournament. Serena, who had just woken up noticed Ash &amp; decided to see what he was looking at

"Hey Ash, what are you looking at?"

"This, Serena." He said as he pointed to a flyer

"It's a tournament and it's taking place here in Shalour City" said Ash.

"And let me guess, you're going to enter it?"

"You bet I am!"

Serena giggled, "Typical Ash" she said as she also rolled her eyes. But that was something she really liked about Ash, the fact that he could never resist a challenge. That was just one of the many reasons why Serena had a crush on the Pallet Town trainer. He had so many good qualities about him that would make any girl fall for him. Sadly, he wasn't perfect as his biggest flaw(and really the only flaw Serena saw in her opinion anyway) was his denseness. But Serena was patient, and decided to wait on telling Ash her feelings about him until they had spent more time together. She did throw in some hints, but of course, he never noticed.

Ash went over to Nurse Joy to see if he could get more information about the tournament.

"Hey Nurse Joy, do you happen to anything about this tournament here?' he said as pointed back towards the poster.

"Why yes I do. It's starts in a week and registration opens today at noon."

Ash looked at a nearby clock and noticed that it was 7:30, so he had to wait before he could register.

"What about the rules?"

"There are only two major rules. Rule 1 is that all battles will be one-on-one battles. The second rule is, as you might have noticed on the poster, only pokemon that can Mega-Evolve are eligible to battle."

Ash was now confused as to why only mega-evolved pokemon could enter, so he asked.

Nurse Joy explained that the tournament was designed to test the bond between trainer and pokemon to see you excelled at mega-evolutions. It was also something that Kalos Champion Diantha had wanted as the winner of the tournament would get to face her in a one-on-one exibition match.

Ash was now stoked hearing that the winner faces Diantha. Ash had been wanting to finish his battle with her when he met her only a few weeks prior, but since it was interupted by Team Rocket, they never finished it. But now, Ash not only had a chance to face her again, but with Lucario, he felt that he had a good shot at beating her.

"Thank you for all your help, Nurse Joy. I'll be back here when registration opens!" Ash said as he, Serena and Pikachu(A/N Yes, they were both there listening. Sorry I forgot to write that.) made their way to the cafeteria for some breakfast. There waiting for them was Clemont &amp; Bonnie and after telling them about the tournament, the two siblings knew they would be here for a while longer. Ash couldn't wait for the tournament, but little did he know what was to be coming in the following weeks to come.

End of Chapter 1.

I know this wasn't a very long(and probably not a very good) chapter, but trust me, they got longer( and better). This chapter sets up the premise. Things start moving next chapter, I promise. Speaking of which, the next chapter will see some familar faces returning. When will it come out, most likely the beginning of June. So until then, this is nWoreviewer AKA The Man Known as nWore signing out.


	2. Chapter 2

Secrets, Confessions &amp; Revealations

Ages of characters:

Misty: 16

Gary: 15

Tracey: 18

May: 14

Dawn: 13

Chapter 2: Reunions

The rest of the morning went uneventful and at now Ash was registering for the "Knights of Mega Evolution" Tournament. Ash was one of the first to register, and Nurse Joy explained one final rule to Ash: All pokemon you plan to use for the tournament must be registered before the tournament officially begins, because after that, you can't register anymore. Ash only registered his Lucario since that was his only pokemon that could mega-evolve. The group then went to the battle fields outside where they saw many trainers battling and praticing for the tournament. Ash grew slightly nervous as he noticed at least 50 trainers here, and on the first day of registration. Ash's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a familar voice calling him by a familar nick-name.

"Well, if it isn't Ashy-Boy." said the voice

Ash didn't need to turn around; he already knew who it was. "Hi Gary" Ash said as he went to give Gary a brotherly hug. "So what are you doing here, Gary? I thought you'd still be in Sinnoh working with Prof. Rowan." Ash asked.

"I do still work as Prof. Rowan's assistant, but when I heard about this tournament, I had to come out to enter." Gary responded.

"Wait, news of the tournament got out to Sinnoh?" Ash asked surprised, as he thought only people in Kalos had heard.

"Uh, not just Sinnoh, Ashy-Boy, but Kanto, Johto, &amp; Hoenn as well. Gary responded with his right eyebow raised at Ash as he thought Ash would've known.(A/N Since there aren't any Unova pokemon that can mega-evolve, they don't get the news, so you won't see any of Ash's friends/rivals for Unova in this story. But still, that means no Iris, i'm sure many of you are happy about that.)

Ash then introduced Gary to the others. "Guys, this is Gary Oak, grandson of Prof. Oak, my 1st rival and one of my best friends."

Gary then turned his attention to Ash's new traveling partners. "So, you must be his new friends?"

Clemont spoke up. "Yes, i'm Clemont, inventor and the Lumiose City gym leader." he said as he shook Gary's hand.

Bonnie then spoke" I'm Bonnie, Clemont's sister and this is Dedenene." 'NeNe'

"Nice to meet you two." Gary said as he then noticed Serena and couldn't help but feel like she looked familar, but he didn't know where, so he asked her. "You look familar, have we met before?"

Serena was surprised that Gary almost reconized here since she only really hung out with Ash during the camp, but Ash and Gary did like to compete against each other, so she guessed that he noticed her. "My name is Serena, and to answer your question, yes we have met before. It was at you grandfather's summer camp when we were kids." Serena explained.

Gary remember the camp and realized why she looked so familar, "Oh wait, I remember. You were that girl that was always hanging around with Ashy-Boy here. You know, I always thought she had some sort of crush on you back then, Ashy-Boy." Gary said, directing that last part at Ash.

Serena blushed; why did Gary have to say that out loud. Fortunatily for her, Ash, being the lovable dense kid that he is, didn't understand what Gary was saying.

"Huh, what do you mean Gary?" Ash asked

Gary mentally facepalmed. _'For Arceus sake, he's still dense. And here I was thinking that he and Serena were already a couple. That's it, by the time this tournament's over, i'll get these two together; I swear it!'(_A/N Only Gary MFing Oak can swear) "Never mind, Ash." he sighed, but was then remember something. "Oh by the way Ash, I have something to-" was all Gary got out before Ash got tackled by a blue blur while Pikachu got tackled by a brown blur.

"Ash! It's so good to see you!" a rather bubbly voice said

Ash looked to the side and noticed a Buneary on top of Pikachu; yeah, he knew who it was.

"Dawn, it's great to see you too, but did you have to tackle me?" Ash asked

Dawn stood up and helped Ash back to his feet and also returned Buneary. Ash noticed she was still wearing the same outfit she had worn in Sinnoh and when she visited him in Unova. "Sorry Ash, it's just been a while since we've seen each other, I kinda got a little carried away."

Another voice called out "A little carried away Dawn?"

Ash and Dawn turned around and saw three figures coming towards them. One of the had Orange hair, one had black hair was wearing a hairband, and the last one had brown and was also wearing a green bandanna. Ash instantly knew who they were and ran up to them.

"Misty, Tracey, May! Great seeing you guys!" he said as he gave each of them a hug.

Misty spoke 1st. "Yes is has Ash, you need to come by Cerulean Gym more when you're in Kanto. I haven't seen you since you started your Battle Frontier Challenge."

"I promise Misty, I come see you whenever i'm home. Speaking of the gym, how's that going?" Ash asked.

"It's going great, Cerulean Gym is the one of the strongest gyms in Kanto, only behind Saffron and Virdian Gyms." Misty said with pride

"That great Misty." Ash said, very happy for his 1st traveling companion. "So May and Dawn, how have you done?"

May spoke first. "Well Ash, I won the Sinnoh Grand Festival and I even beat Solidad in the finals." Dawn then spoke "And I won the Hoenn Grand Festival and beat Zoey in the finals." Ash once again hugged them and congradulated them on their wins.

"That's great to hear, but are you guys here for the tournament?" Ash asked

"Yep! That's right Ash. I'll be entering and so will Misty, Tracey and Dawn." May said

Ash was surprised. "Since when do you guys have pokemon that can mega evolve?" he asked

Misty was the 1st to speak. "I have only one: Gyrados. But it's my strongest pokemon, and it'll very tough to beat."

Tracey then spoke. "I have one as well: Scizor, which recently evolved. I also want to see well I do since I don't battle often."

"I have three: Venusaur, Blaziken and my newly evolved Blastoise." May said.

Ash turned to Dawn. "What about you Dawn, I don't recall you having any."

Dawn replied confidently. "Well Ash, I too have only one and it's one of my newer pokemon, but it's quite possibly my strongest." Dawn then took out a pokeball. "Gardevoir, spotlight" she called as a shiny Gardevior came out, surprising Ash.

"Wow Dawn, you have a shiny pokemon, just like my Noctowl. That's so cool!" Ash said with stars in his eyes; amazed at the sight of the shiny pokemon. (A/N I would act the same way around any shiny)

Gary finally got a chance to speak again. "Ash! I have to give you something." Ash turned around and noticed that Gary had 3 mega stones in his hand. "These mega stones are for your pokemon, specifically your Charizard, Heracross, and Gible, which by the way, recently evolved into a Gabite. Gramps asked me to give these to you to use for the tournament. Now how about you go get Charizard and Heracross so you can register them. Also, I would bring Gabite because if you do enough training with it, it might evolve into a Garchomp and you can use him as well."

Ash replied "Ok Gary, I'll go get them from Prof. Oak and thanks for the advice. Hey Pikachu, you want to hang out with the others?" he asked his partner.

'Pika' Pikachu then jumped from Ash's shoulder to Misty's as Ash went back inside the Center to call the Professor.

Now with Ash gone, Gary decided to have a little fun at Serena's expense. "So Serena, when are you gonna tell Ashy-Boy that you have a huge crush on him?" Gary asked while smiling deviously.

Serena blushed furiously and thought she was gonna die right there. The others were surprised about this; not even Clemont and Bonnie knew about this.

After a while, Clemont broke the silence and asked Serena a question

"Serena, you have a crush on Ash?" Clemont asked

Serena decided to just let it all out. "Yes I do. I haved one on him ever since I first met him at that Pokemon Summer Camp back in Kanto. He's the sweetest, kindest, most wonderful person anyone could ever meet. Anyone would be lucky to have him as a friend, but I want to be more than friends. I want to be his girlfriend. Only two things are stopping me from confessing. The first is his denseness; it's really the only flaw that I see in him."

"What the other thing?" Gary asked

"I'm too scared to tell him; what if he doesn't feel the same way. It would ruin our friendship and I don't want that. Besides, if Ash ever wanted a girlfriend, i'm sure he'll chose one of you girls." Serena said, looking down.

May went up to Serena and placed a hand on Serena's shoulder, making her look up at her. "Don't worry Serena, I'm sure Ash would choose you. Besides, i'm dating one of my rivals named Drew, Misty and Tracey are dating and so are Dawn and Gary. Also, you're a sweet girl; i'm sure that one day, you and Ash will together, and if I may say, you'd two would make a cute couple." Serena blushed at what May said.

"Thank you May. I just hope that day comes soon and not later. I can't put in words how long i've waited for the day where I can tell Ash just how much I love him." Serena said making everyone smile.

However, what the group didn't know is that Ash was out of sight and listening to the whole conversation and looked sad at what he had heard.

"So, she does love me?" Ash said to himself, sounding depressed. "Oh guys, if only you guys knew why I act dense around you guys." he said as he walked back into the Pokemon Center, wanting to be by himself.

End of Chapter 2

So that's Chapter 2, which I think came out a lot better than Chapter 1, but tell me what you guys think. Also, to make it clear: Ash has been faking his since denseness since the beginning of his travels. Why, you may ask? You'll find out next chapter. And yes, I know him faking his denseness isn't really an original idea, but i've only really seen it done in betrayed stories, which this isn't. So until then, nWore signing out!


	3. Chapter 3

Secrets, Confession and Revealations

Not too much to say, so let's get to it.

I don't own Pokemon. If I did, Ash would age and would have a girlfriend already

Chapter 3: Memories

It had been a few days since Ash's old friends had come to participate in the tournament and when Ash learned about Serena's love for him. At first, he wanted to simply avoid her so he could have time to think, but he decided against it in order to avoid suspicion. During those days, he spent majority of his time training his Lucario, Charizard and Heracross to master their power in their mega evolution states. Also, thanks to help from Gary, Misty and May, Ash's Gabite evolved into Garchomp, so Ash was able to use him in the tournament. There was still 2 days left before the tournament was to begin. It was late at night and Ash was out with Pikachu, Lucario, Charizard, Garchomp and Heracross. Lucario and Heracross were sparring and Charizard was helping Garchomp perfect some of his dragon-type moves. After a while, he recalled them back into their pokeballs so they could get some rest. Ash however remained outside as he was in deep thought.

'_What am I going to do about Serena? I can't start avoiding her, but I now feel awkward when i'm around her now knowing how she feels about me? Maybe I should tell her I know, I mean, i really like her and I haven't felt like that since...her. But what if she thinks of me as a different person? Ughhhh...come on Ash, you can think of an answer to this, just think!' _Ash thought, as he was unaware of who was approaching him.

"Hey, Ash?" The voice called out to him. Ash turned to see a lemon blonde girl with grey eyes. They belonged to that of the same person who gave him Lucario. It's was the Shalour City Gym Leader, Korrina.

"Korrina, what are you doing out so late?" he asked her.

"I could ask you the same thing. By the way, where's Pikachu?" Ash pointed towards his backpack, saying that Pikachu was sleeping in there. "OK, well I heard you were going to be in the tournament, so shouldn't you be sleeping by now?" she asked him.

"...I have some things I need to think about." Ash said, making Korrina raise an eyebrow

"Like what?" she asked.

Ash sighed. "You really want to know?" he asked her. She nodded as Ash signaled for her to sit down. "Well, a few days ago, a few of my friends came here so they could participate in the tourney. My close friend, Gary gave me some mega stones for my Charizard, Heracross and Garchomp so I could use them in the tournament. I went to go get them and when I came back, I overheard a conversation that Serena was having with Clemont, Bonnie and my other friends and in that conversation, she said that she loved me." Ash said.

Korrina went wide eyed at what Ash said. "Well that's great! Now you and Serena can be a couple. Personally, I always thought you two would get together during the short time we traveled. You two are cute together." she said.

"Korrina, Serena and I aren't a couple." he said. He looked at her and saw the confused expression on her face. "You see, they don't know that I know that Serena loves me and over the last few days, I've been trying to figure out my feelings for her."

"So, are you avoiding her or something?" she asked

"No I can't, otherwise, they'll get suspicious." he said in response

"Well, maybe I can help you. What do you know for certain about your feelings about her?" she asked, wanting to help her friend.

"Only one thing: I like Serena more than almost every other girl I have ever met in my life. I mean, what can I say about her? She's beautiful, an amazing baker and she gives me inspiration during my gym battles."

"Well Ash, if you want my opinion, I would say you're starting to fall in love with her." Korrina said.

"I think you're right, and I would like to give a relationship with her a shot, but there's one thing that's stopping me from doing so." he said

"What's that?" she asked

"...Her." Ash said

"Who?"

"The only other girl I liked this much." Ash said as he decided to tell Korrina about the first girl that was he was close to in his life.

_Flashback: 8 years ago(Ash: age 7)_

_"Ash come on dear, let's go." Delia said as she came downstairs_

_Ash, who was watching TV, looked at his mom. "Where are we going, mommy?" he asked._

_"There are some new neighbors that moved in next door, so we're going to greet them." Delia said_

_Ash instantly backed away. "New neighbors? I don't wanna go, mommy."_

_Delia went over to her son and crouched down to his level. "Relax Ash, Prof. Oak has already told me that they are nice people. I also heard they have a daughter that's your age, so maybe you too can be friends." she said as she gently rubbed her son's already messy hair._

_"Hey!" Ash said as he moved away from her hand. Delia took her son's hand as they left the house and went over to their new neighbors house. Delia rang the doorbell and a moment later, a man and woman came and opened it._

_"Hello there, we're your new neighbors. I'm Delia Ketchum and this is my son, Ash." Delia said as she shook the hands of the two. _

_"It's a pleasure to meet you, Delia. We've heard so many thing about you from Prof. Oak." The man said as he then went down to Ash's level. "And we've heard things about you as well. like how you want to be a pokemon trainer when you're older."_

_"Ye...Yeah." Ash said shyly as he hid behind his mom's leg._

_"Don't worry about him, he's just shy is all." Delia said as she moved Ash away from her leg._

_"You know, Ash. You and our daughter have quite a lot in common. She's about your age and also wants to be a trainer. Why don't we introduce you to her. Dear, where is she?" the man asked his wife._

_"Upstairs neating up her room. You know how much of a neat freak she is." she said as the adults laughed while Ash was confused. "Oh Honey, come down and say hi to our new neighbors." she called._

_"I don't wanna."_

_"Well then, i'm sure your father wouldn't mind going up there and doing his thing to your room." she called out as she smiled at her husband._

_"Alright, i'm coming! Just keep that madman away from my room." The adults laughed at the girl's expense as she came downstairs. _

_"Thank you, dear. Now this is Mrs. Ketchum and her son, they live next door." The mother said as she pushed her forward._

_"Hello there, aren't you just adorable." she said as the girl blushed. "Come on, dear. Come say hi." she said as she nudged Ash out again. The boy looked down at the ground, but then moved his head up and looked at the girl. She was wearing a baby blue shirt and a red skirt and her cheeks were still red from his mother's comment. Ash himself felt his face heat up as the girl looked at him. An awkward silence filled the room as the two continued looking at each other, until Ash finally spoke._

_"Hi. I'm...Ash."_

_"Hi...I'm Leaf."_

_End Flashback_

"So how close were you and Leaf?" Korrina asked, starting to get a picture as to what was holding Ash back.

"We got along perfectly, we we're best friends, always spending time with each other, always doing things together. Eventually, our bond grew so strong that.." Ash said before Korrina interrupted him with a question.

"Ash, were you and Leaf a childhood couple?" she asked. Ash smiled and began telling her another story from his youth.

_Flashback: 7 years ago(Ash age 8)_

_Ash and Leaf were sitting down, leaning against a tree relaxing as they watched the sun set. It was one of the two's favorite activities to do. At first, it wasn't for Ash, but after a while, he greatly enjoyed it as it meant spending more time with Leaf, which he always enjoyed._

_Meanwhile, Leaf was in thought. She had a huge crush on Ash for quite some time and always wondered if he had a crush on her. She decided to tell him about her feelings and now was the perfect chance._

_"Hey Ash, we're best friends right?" she asked him_

_Ash looked at her with amazement. "Of course we are Leaf." he said_

_"Are we more?"_

_"More?" he asked, unsure about what she meant._

_"I mean...Do you like me as more than a friend?" she asked_

_"I...i'm not sure." Ash said with uncertainty. "Do you?" he asked. She simply nodded her head. "How much?" he asked._

_Leaf gained a smile on her face as she moved closer to Ash. "Enough to do this." she said and a moment later, she planted her lips onto Ash's. Ash was wide eyed at first, but then closed his eyes and returned the kiss. After a minute, they separated._

_"Leaf...I wasn't sure before, but now I know that I feel exactly the same as you do." Ash said, this time with certainty._

_"Good." she said as she moved as close as she possibly could to Ash, who in return, put his arm around her._

_"But i'm still gonna be the best trainer in the world when we grow up." Ash said smirking_

_"No you won't, I will." Leaf argued. _

_"How about we make a promise Leaf. No matter what, we'll be the best trainers in the world together." Ash said_

_"It's a promise then, Ash." she said as she rested her head on Ash's shoulder as the two continued watching the sunset._

_End Flashback._

"Wow Ash. I would have never thought that someone who really never took much interest in girls actually was not only in a relationship, but also had his first kiss when he was a kid." Korrina said, clearly impressed. "So how did her parents react?"

"Both her parents and my mom supported us. However, we kept it a secret from almost everyone else. We only acted as a couple when we were alone or at each other's houses. It was some of the happiest times of my life." Ash said

"So why isn't she traveling with you? Did she want to travel on her own or something?" she asked.

"No, she did. We made plans about traveling when we became trainers and everything. It's just..." Ash sighed and layed back on the bench.

"Ash? You OK?" Korrina asked.

"Yeah, it's just... the reason why we never traveled together brings back painful memories." Ash said as he told Korrina one final story.

_Flashback: 6 years ago.(Ash age 9)_

_It was 3 months before Ash and Leaf were to get their first pokemon, along with day started typically for Ash, he ate his mother's breakfast and went over to Leaf's house. When he got there, he knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Usually, it only took a few seconds for Ash to get a response. He knocked again, and still got no response. He went to the window and saw that the house was competently empty. Confused and stunned, he went back home to see if his mother knew what happened._

_"Mom, Leaf's house is totally empty!" Ash yelled. He noticed his mother reading a letter and it looked like she was about tot cry. She then went up to her son._

_"Ash, I think you need to read this. It's from Leaf, this should answer your questions." she said as she handed him the letter and he began reading it._

_Ash,_

_I'm sorry I can't say this to your face, but I only just found out about this just as soon as I walked in the house and as such, i'm writing this before I go to bed. My parents told me that we're moving and where we're going, I have no idea. We're leaving very early in the morning, so by the time you read this, i'll have been long gone. I am so sorry that I can't travel with you once you get your pokemon. I only hope that we'll meet up again in our travels. Goodbye, Ash. I will never forget you or our promise._

_Leaf_

_P.S I love you_

_Tears had started flowing down Ash's face, and when he read that last line, all he heard was Leaf's voice in his head saying those three words to him over and over again. It broke Ash and he dropped to his knees and cried his eyes out. Delia instantly went to her son to try and comfort him, but she knew that there was nothing she could do, but be there for her son in his time of need._

_End Flashback_

"I was down for about a month and I almost didn't want to go on my journey, but I realized that Leaf wouldn't want that, so I pulled myself together, got my first pokemon and have been traveling ever since. I've hoped that I would meet up with her during my travels, but during the five years I've been traveling, I haven't met up with her." Ash said finishing the story.

Korrina wasn't crying, but she had a sad look on her face. "Ash, I certainly understand what it feels like to have a childhood friend leave your life like that. I'm so sorry you had to go through that, but I think I understand what's holding you back." she said

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"It's that while a part of you wants to be with Serena, there's also a part of you that doesn't want to give up hope of reuniting with Leaf and picking up where you two left off." she said

"Korrina, you pretty much hit the nail right on the head." Ash said with a smirk; despite traveling for a short amount of time, she understood him perfectly.

"Well Ash, if you want my advice, i'd say you should move on from Leaf and be with Serena. I'm not trying to sound like a jerk, but if you keep waiting for Leaf, then Serena will get away and if that happens, you'll regret it, especially if you never meet up with Leaf again." Korrina said.

Ash thought about what Korrina said. What she said was true, if he waited for Leaf too long, Serena will find someone else. But still, his gut was telling him to wait for Leaf. He knew he would need time to think about this, though.

"Thanks for the advice and listening to me, Korrina. It feels good to get that off my chest. I think i'm gonna go to bed now." Ash said. The two walked to the centers doors.

"Well Ash, i'll see you later. Oh and by the way, my boyfriend will be in the tournament and he's strong. Good luck." Ash nodded and went into the center as Korrina went back to the gym.

A few minutes after Ash went to bed, a brunette girl with a white hat walked in and went to Nurse Joy.

"Excuse me, Nurse Joy, but do you have any rooms available?" she asked

"Why yes we do, are you here for the tournament?" Joy asked back.

"Yes, can I still register?"

"Of course, I just need your name and the pokemon you'll be using."

The girl placed the pokeballs of the pokemon she'd be using and then said 5 words

"My name is Leaf Green."

End of Chapter 3.

Cliffhanger? Don't you just hate those? Now I think many people probably saw the ending coming, but you know what, I don't care. So now, let the battle between AmourShippers and FurtherShippers begin. I don't know yet which shipping will be the main shipping yet, you'll see plenty of both, that's for sure. The tournament begins next chapter, so until then, this is nWore signing out.

Update: New poll up. Please vote.


	4. Chapter 4

Secrets, Confessions and Revelations

Well, it has certainly been a while since I last updated this story hasn't it. For one, there are a whole new bunch of Pokemon that are going to have a mega evolved form, which I think many of them will be introduced with the release of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. As such, I have decided to try to incorporate all of them(excluding the legendaries for obvious reasons) in the story. Now then, here's a list of all the main characters mega evolved Pokemon. I'll leave Leaf's for guessing. All I'll say is that she has more than one.

Ash: Charizard, Heracross, Sceptile, Glalie, Garchomp and Lucario.

Gary: Blastoise, Scizor, Alakazam, Houndoom and Pinsir

Misty: Gyarados

Tracey: Scizor

May: Blaziken, Venusaur and Blastoise

Dawn: Gardevior

Now then, let's get started.

Chapter 4: Knights of Battling Part 1

It had been somewhat of a wild last two days for Ash. After his conversation with Korrina, Ash was contacted by Prof. Oak the following morning. He informed Ash that scientists had recently discovered mega evolution stones for Sceptile and Galile. He had already sent Ash the two stones via an item teleporter(A/N I know there's no such thing, just go with it.) and also sent him his mega ring as Oak had forgotten to send it with Gary. Ash had just barely managed to register Sceptile and Glalie in the tournament with only a few seconds left to spare before registration closed, now giving six Pokemon to use. He learned that there were 128 trainers competing. He spent the rest of the day and the following day training the six Pokemon. He also still had Pikachu with him, despite having six Pokemon with him thanks to a loophole in the Pokemon Storage System he had learned several years ago. After two days of training, Ash was ready to compete and win. He was now sitting with his friends in the stands as the announcer spoke.

"Welcome everyone to the Knights of Mega Evolution Tournament. I'm your MC for this tournament, JR Jack Riley and in this week long tournament, 128 trainers are going to battle to earn the right to be able to call themselves The Prince or Princess of Mega Evolution!" The crowd cheered at that. JR signaled for them to calm down so he could continue. "Here are the rules: Each battle will be a 1-on-1 Pokemon battle. Before the battle officially begins, both Pokemon must switch to their mega evolved form. After that, the battle begins. Moves such as **Baton Pass **and **U-Turn **are illegal. Whomever knocks out their opponent's Pokemon first will be declared the winner and will move on in the tournament. Now for the most exciting thing: The winner will earn an amazing opportunity. Whomever wins will earn the honor of battling Kalos Region Champion Diantha in an exhibition battle!" The crowd cheered even more.

That news certainly gave Ash and his friends even more motivation.

"Wow! The winner gets to battle Diantha? That's so awesome!" Dawn said.

"Yeah. Looks like we may get a chance to face her again, right buddy?" Ash said, looking at Pikachu.

'Pika!' The mouse Pokemon said. Gary, Misty, Tracey, May and Dawn turned to Ash in confusion.

"Ash, what do you mean by again?" May asked.

"We already me Diantha a while ago. She and Ash had a battle, but it was interupted by Team Rocket, so they never finished it." Serena explained. The 5 were surprised by this.

"You always seem to meet the champion of every region, Ashy-Boy. Talk about luck." Gary said. Ash just shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess. Still, there's no one who's going to stop me from winning." Ash said.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Someone said behind him. He turned to see Korrina sitting down next to him.

"Hey, Korrina. These are my friends, Gary, Misty, Tracey, May and Dawn. Guys, this is Korrina, the Shalour Gym Leader. She's the one who gave me Lucario." Ash said, introducing the five to her. They said hi to her.

"Hi guys, nice to meet you." Korrina said.

So, what are you doing here?" Clemont asked.

"Well, I doubt anyone going to be challenging the gym anytime soon thanks to this tournament, so I thought I'd come out here and watch my boyfriend and you guys battle." Korrina responded.

"Boyfriend? You have a boyfriend?" Serena asked.

"Yep. In fact, he's battling first." Korrina said, pointing down towards the battlefield. The group turned to see two trainers, one in a red trainer box on one side of the battlefield and the other in a blue trainer box about to battle.

"Alright fans, here are our first two competitors. Introducing first, in the red corner, from Olivine City, Johto, Garrison Cade!" JR announced as the crowd applauded for the teenager that was about 16. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, was wearing a red shirt, blue pants and black shoes.

"Now in the blue corner, from Celestic Town, Sinnoh. He is known as 'The Champion Killer' Mike Shamrock!" The crowd cheered as Mike waved at the crowd with a smile on his face. He was a brunette with red eyes that screamed confidence. He was wearing a black shirt, red vest, blue pants and red and black sneakers. He was also wearing a hat that was exactly the same as Ash's. Standing next to him was his Lucario.

As soon as Gary heard that introduction, his eyes widen and his jaw hit the floor. "Oh...My...Arceus!" Everyone except Korrina looked at him in confusion.

"What, Gary?" Misty asked.

"Do any of you know who that is?" he asked. They all shook their heads. "Mike Shamrock is one of the best young trainers on the circuit. He's so strong that it's scary. But you want to know what's really scary?" the others nodded. "He has beaten almost every region champion." The others gasped in disbelief.

"That can't be true, can it?" Ash asked. Korrina giggled, bringing the attention to her.

"Oh it's true. He's beaten almost all of them and he's here to beat Diantha." She turned to see everyone staring at her with suspicious looks. "Yes. Mike is my boyfriend." she said earning shocked expressions from everyone. They turned back to the battle to see both Mike and Garrison already have chosen their Pokemon. Mike chose his Lucario and Garrison chose a Medicham. Both Pokemon were already in their mega evolved forms.

"**Lucario vs Medicham. Begin!" **The ref dropped both flags, giving the signal to begin the match.

Mike, being aware of his type disadvantage, started. "Lucario, start with **Bulk Up**!" Lucario flexed his arms as his attack and defense raised.

Garrison was ecstatic to see he had type advantage and against such a strong opponent. "Medichan, use **Fire Punch**!" Medichan's fist was engulfed in a flame as he ran towards Lucario.

"Lucario, dodge with **Quick Attack**!" Lucario disappeared like a blur just before Medichan hit him with the attack. Garrison looked around the battlefield as he couldn't find Lucario. Mike spoke again. "Now appear behind Medicham and use **Bone Rush**!"Lucario appeared behind Medichan, put his paws together and spread them apart, which created a light green bone of energy. Before Garrison could warn his Pokemon, Lucario hit him twice with the attack, one hit on each leg, forcing Medichan down to his knees in pain. Lucario walked up to face Medichan, smirked and swung the Bone up and then down, hitting Medichan in his jaw, sending the pokemon flying.

The whole crowd let out a collective 'Oh!' after seeing that. Even JR made a comment after seeing that.

"Oh! Medichan is going to be feeling that one for the next week."

Despite feeling pain is his legs and massive pain in his jaw, Medichan managed to get back up.

"Can you keep going Medichan?" Garrison asked his Pokemon. Medichan nodded that he could keep battling. "Great, use **Meditate**!" Medichan floated into the air and started meditating, raising his attack power.

Mike smirked. "Two can play at that game. Lucario, use **Swords Dance**!" Lucario started meditating as blue swords surrounded him. He soon glowed red, raising his attack.

Garrison growled in irritation. _'He's just going to use status moves if I do. I have to go on the offensive.' _he thought. "Medichan, use **Zen Headbutt**!" The top of his head glows blue and he shoots himself at Lucario.

Mike smirked once again. This was easier than he thought. "Dodge and counter with Superman Punch!" No one was certain what move he called. Lucario moved away from the headbutt at the last possible second, then vanished again. Medichan backed up a few steps trying to locate Lucario, when suddenly he was attacked again and again by some kind of blur.

"What's going on?" Garrison asked.

"Superman Punch is a combo move that I created. It's also taken down many of the champion's Pokemon. First is **Extreme Speed**."

Garrison gasped as he looked to see the attacks had ended. Medichan was down on one knee and breathing heavily, but wasn't down and out. He managed to get back to his feet.

Mike spoke again. "The second move...**Power-Up Punch**!" All of a sudden, Lucario appeared out of nowhere and he was in the air with his fist was surrounded in an orange aura. He hit Medichan right square in the jaw, leaving Medichan groggy and a moment later, he fell to the floor, swirls in his eyes.

The ref raised his flag. "**Medichan is unable to battle. The winner is Lucario. The match goes to Mike Shamrock of Celestic Town.**"

Mike couldn't help but grin; Lucario had taken down Medichan without even taking a single hit. Of course, he realized with how dominant he was with this win, that he was the odds on favorite and everyone would be after him, but he wouldn't have it any other way. He thrived on competition and wanted to face the best the world had to offer. Lucario walked back to Mike and de-evolved back to his normal form.

"Great work, Lucario." Mike said as the two fists met in a fist bump. Mike waved to the crowd one more time and Lucario bowed at their opponent before the two walked into the tunnel, heading for the locker rooms.

Up in the stands, Ash and his friends were in in shock about how dominant Mike was. The only two who weren't shocked were Gary and Korrina as they had seen Mike battle before.

"I have never seen anyone win a battle that decisively." Misty said.

"I know, it was like I was watching a region champion facing a rookie trainer." Tracey commented.

"It wasn't even close to a fair fight." May said.

"You guys see what I mean when I said he's scary strong?" Gary asked. They nodded their heads.

"But that just makes me more exicted!" Ash said as they looked at him like he was insane, but realized that this was typical Ash. "I hope I get to face him in this tournament."

"I guess in Ash's case, there's no need to worry." Dawn said. She looked down at her Poketch and noticed the time. "Ash, Tracey, our battles will be starting soon. We should get down to the locker rooms." The two boys nodded. Pikachu decided to stay with the others and hopped onto Serena's shoulder.

"Good luck, Ash." Serena said with love in her eyes. Ash saw the look, but made it look like he didn't.

"Thanks Serena." he said as he, Tracey and Dawn made their way to the locker rooms.

Over on the other side of the stadium, Leaf was still in shock of that last battle. She prayed to Arceus that she wouldn't have to face Mike until the later rounds. As another battle started, Leaf couldn't help but think about Ash. She had always felt guilty about leaving him the way she did, even if it was out of her control. If she ever got the chance, she would apologize to Ash over and over again for leaving him and for the heartbreak he surely suffered from as a result of her leaving. What was weird was that her gut was telling her she would see him soon, but she didn't understand why she would see him now after not seeing him for the last six years. She turned her attention away from her thoughts to the battle, which featured a Mega Scizor battling a Mega Beedrill.

"Beedrill, let's finish him off. Use **Giga Impact**!" A trainer named Seth called out as Beedrill flew high in the sky and was soon surrounded by orange streaks and a purple energy as it was heading for Scizor.

Tracey had been in the midst of a tough battle, but he knew how to win. "Scizor, dodge with **Double Team**!" In the blink of an eye, multiple copies of Scizor appeared. Beedrill hit one of the copies, missing Scizor and dealing critical damage to himself. Scizor appeared behind Beedrill who had barely gotten up. "Now use **Hyper Beam**!" Scizor fired two orange beams from his claws at Beedrill, which hit him dead on and sent crashing him into the wall. When the smoke cleared, it revealed Beedrill with swirls in his eyes.

"**Beedrill is unable to battle. Scizor is the winner. The match goes to Tracey Sketchit of Pallet Town. **The ref announced as Tracey let out a sigh of relief. He returned Scizor after thanking him and walked off the field.

After a few more battles, Dawn was in her battle and was also having a tough time. She was using Gardevoir and her opponent was using a Tyranitar, making her psychic attacks useless.

"Tyranitar, **Hyper Beam**!" Tyranitar fired the beam and it looked like it would take Gardevoir down.

"Gardevior, **Protect**!" Dawn said as Gardevior was surrounded by a light green energy which deflected the hyper beam away. "Now use **Moonblast**!" Gardevoir gathered energy from the Moon which formed an orb of pink energy in front of its hands and fires it at her opponent, which hit dead-on. Tyranitar crashed onto the floor with swirls in his eyes.

"**Tyranitar is unable to battle. The winner is Gardevoir. The match goes to Dawn Berlitz of Twinleaf Town.**" Dawn cheered for her victory, thanked and return Gardevoir as she walked down the tunnel to the locker room, she saw Ash waiting.

"Great battle Dawn." Ash said walking towards her.

"Thanks Ash. Now it's your turn to go out there and do the same." Dawn said as she extended her hand in the air.

"You know I will." he said as he extended his hand and the two met in a high five. Ash then made his way to the battlefield, not knowing who was out there watching him.

Back up in the stands, Leaf was going over her battle strategy, even though she was going to be last to battle today, she wanted to ready to go at a moment's notice. As such, she wasn't really paying attention to the introductions for the next battle.

"Here are our next two battlers. Introducing first, in the red corner. From Fuschia City, Kanto. Mark Jindrak!" JR announced as Mark, a young boy who looked no older than eleven, got some cheers. "And in the blue corner, from Pallet Town, Kanto. He is known as 'The Pride of Pallet' Ash Ketchum!" he announced and the audience roared in cheers.

As soon as Leaf heard Ash being introduced, she broke away from her thoughts and her eyes widen. She turned to the screen and his face was all over it. "Ash...he's really here..." Leaf whispered with a tear in her eye, but she quickly wiped it away. She still had a battle to prepare for, then she could reunite with Ash afterwards since it was obvious he would be coming to find her as well.

"**Trainers, please select your Pokemon.**" The ref said.

"Sableye, let's rock it!" Mark said as he released the darkness Pokemon.

"Glalie, I choose you!" Ash said as he released his ice-type Pokemon. Soon afterwards, both Ash and Mark mega-evolved their Pokemon.

"**Sableye vs Galile. Begin the battle!**"

"Galile, use **Hail**!" Ash said. Galile's body glowed light blue and soon, thick clouds appear above the battlefield and a thick fog forms. Galile then floated into the clouds, disappearing into the fog.

"Hey, what's going on?" Mark asked, but he received no answer from Ash. This is how Ash wanted to battle. He was using a similar strategy that Paul had used with his Froslass back in the Sinnoh League. Ash was certain that Mark would soon crack and start fighting blindly. Mark saw that Galile kept appearing and disappearing, then it hit him. '_Wait, Galile's moving around like a ghost._' "Sableye, use **Foresight**!" Sableye's body becomes outlined in light blue and its eyes also glowed light blue. He then released a large light blue forcefield from its body that expands all around, revealing all invisible objects, including Galile.

Galile's eyes widen, now being exposed. "Perfect, now use **Shadow Sneak**!" Sableye extended its shadow and attacked Galile from behind and doing so lifted the fog. Galile took a good hit, but he was far from done.

Ash's hail strategy had backfired, but he had a second strategy to use. "Glalie, use **Ice Beam**!" Glalie charged a light blue ball in between the horns on top of its head and fired light blue beams from the ball.

"Dodge it!" Mark said. Sableye jumped out of the way, but Glalie kept trying to hit him. Sableye kept dodging the attack, but both Sableye and Mark weren't paying attention to what Ash's real intention was. After a while, Glalie stopped using the attack.

"Ha! All that and you missed Sableye." Mark said, smuggly.

Ash smirked. "Who ever said Sableye was my target? Look around you now." he said. Mark did so and realized was Ash was doing. The entire field was covered in ice. He then noticed that Sableye was having trouble standing up, even using his gem to balance himself wasn't working. "Now it's time to wrap this up. Galile, use **Sheer Cold**!" Glalie's body became surrounded by a blue aura and the inside of its mouth shined white. The ground around Glalie began to freeze and as a result, Sableye was instantly frozen. When the ref checked on him, he saw swirls in his eyes.

"**Sableye is unable to battle. The winner is Glalie. The match goes to Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town.**" The ref announced as he raised his flag.

Galile went to his trainer and the two exchanged a quick hug. "Great job Galile, I knew you could do it." Ash said as he returned his Pokemon and made his way back to his friends.

Speaking of his friends, they were impressed with how well Ash had battled. While Gary, Misty and May had made their way down to the locker room and Korrina went to see Mike, Serena, Clemont, Bonnie, Tracey and Dawn were talking about the battle

"Wow. I don't think I've seen Ash look so strong in a battle before." Serena said.

"He really used Glalie's ice attacks to his advantage. But where did her learn that strategy to freeze the field?" Tracey asked.

"He learned that from his battles with Santalune Gym Leader, Viola. Her Surskit used the same strategy against Ash. I guess Ash put that strategy in the back of his mind." Clemont said.

"I think he does that with all his battles. That Hail strategy was what his rival Paul used against him in the Sinnoh League. That's what make Ash Ash. He's so unorthodox that no one knows what he's thinking in battle." Dawn said.

Leaf was also impressed with Ash's battle. '_Well done, Ash. This tournament is going to be one that none of us will ever forget._' she thought with a smile.

As the tournament continued, many other battlers came and went. Fortunately, Gary, Misty and May had won their battles and would advance to Round Two. They were up in the stands, ready to watch the last battle of Round One. But the introductions of the last two battlers caught both Ash and Gary off guard.

"Now it's time for the final battle for Round One!" JR announced as the crowd went wild. "Introducing first, in the red corner. From Cherrygrove City, Johto, Orlando Jordan!" The crowd cheered at the black male teenager, who looked about fifteen. "And in the blue corner, originally from Pallet Town, Kanto: Leaf Green!"

As the crowd erupted, both Ash and Gary's eyes widen and mouths dropped. Dawn looked over at her boyfriend and asked "What's wrong Gary?"

"Th..That's Leaf! Ashy-Boy and I grew up with her when we were kids. Hey Ash, can-" Gary said, but when he turned to talk to Ash, he and Pikachu were gone.

"Hey, where did Ash go?" Bonnie asked.

"He probably was too impatient to see Leaf. I can't blame him since Leaf was Ash's first real friend." Gary said. That made everyone turn their heads in confusion at what Gary said

"I thought you were his first friend?" Misty asked.

"I suppose I was, but I never really treated Ash like a friend since I was consumed by our old rivalry. Leaf on the other hand, treated Ash like an actual friend. Those two were always spending time together up until Leaf had to move away and let me tell you, I had never seen Ash so depressed before in all my life." Gary explained. They all could understand why Ash left in a hurry. Serena did feel a little jealously when she heard Gary talking about how much time Ash and Leaf spent, but she put it to the side. The group turned to the battle to see that Leaf had chosen Venusaur and Orlando had chosen Manectric and both were in their Mega Evolved forms.

"**Venusaur vs Manectric. Begin the battle!**" The ref announced.

"Venusaur, use **Sunny Day**!" Leaf said right away. Venusaur's eyes became fiery and it released a white beam of light to the sky, causing the sun to shine brighter.

Orlando smirked. "Ha, that was a big mistake. Manectric, use **Flamethrower**!" With the sun out, Manectric fired a powerful flamethrower hitting Venusaur dead on and she was surrounded by flames. The crowd looked shocked and Orlando was smug, thinking he won with one hit. When the flames dies down, it revealed Venusaur unharmed and smirking. Manectric starting backing away in fear.

"Such a shame you can't do damage to my Pokemon when you use a type advantage move and I help you power it up. Perhaps that will show all the remaining competitors how strong my Pokemon are." Leaf took a look at Manectric and saw the fear in his eyes; she really didn't want to hurt him as he didn't want to battle her. "If you're smart, you'll give up." she said.

Orlando refused to give up, he wasn't going down without a fight.

"Use **Thunder**!" Manectric fired a blast of electricity from its body at Venusaur.

Leaf sighed. "So be it. Venusaur, **Protect**!" Venusaur was surrounded by a green energy that protected her from the Thunder attack. "Now use **Vine Whip**!" Venusaur released several vines that wrapped around all of Manectric's limbs and one was wrapped around his mouth to make sure he didn't try any attack.

"Last chance, Orlando. Give up now or I will show Manectric no mercy." Leaf said.

Orlando didn't know what to do. He didn't want to quit, but if he didn't, then he was certain that Leaf would release Manectric into the air and fire a Solar Beam attack, finishing him and possibly seriously hurting his Pokemon. As much as he wanted to keep going till the bitter end, he couldn't risk his Pokemon's safety.

"I...I...I forfeit!" he yelled, making sure the ref heard him.

"**Manectric has been forfeited. The winner of the match is Leaf Green of Pallet Town!**" The ref announced.

As soon as Venusaur heard that, she placed Manectric on the ground, suffering minimal damages. Leaf went up to Venusaur and thanked her for her good work. She returned her and turned her attention to Orlando, who was holding Manectric, now back in his normal form. "You made the right decision there. I admire your will to go on, but to put your Pokemon's health over your own goals, you have earned my respect." she said as she bowed at Orlando, who nodded his thanks at her. She then left the field. '_Now it's time to find Ash._'

Up at the top of the stands, Korrina, Mike's Lucario and even Mike himself were in shock of what they just saw. "I never expected Leaf to be **that** strong." she said.

Mike turned to her. "You know her?"

Korrina shook her head. "In name only. Ash, the guy I told you about, and I talked a few days ago and he brought her up."

"Hmm...Ash Ketchum and Leaf Green." Mike said, then chuckled a little bit. "I ask for the best and Arceus grants my wish." He turned to his Lucario. "Lucario, Superman Punch may not be enough to put those trainer's Pokemon down. I think it's time we perfect our second combo move." he said as Lucario nodded in agreement.

"What move is that, sweetie?" Korrina asked.

He turned to her. "The Curb Stomp!"

"Where is she?" Ash said to himself as he managed to make his way through waves of fans to find a certain brunette.

'PikaPi, chuka pi-pi Pikachu.' Pikachu said, asking what was wrong with his trainer.

"I'll explain later, buddy. Right now, I just want to make sure that my eyes weren't deceiving me when I saw her. I mean, what if I was seeing things, what if I'm dreaming, what if..."

"Why am I not surprised to learn that you're dreaming about me?" a voice joked behind him. Ash turned around and standing in front of him was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life. She was wearing a outfit similar to the one she wore then they first met. A red skirt, baby blue top and socks, white and red shoes, a yellow bag around her shoulder and a white and red hat.

"Hey Ash." she said, twirling her hair nervously.

"L-L-Leaf?" Ash stuttered, trying to hide his blush.

"It's nice t-to see you." she muttered with a blush on her face. Obviously, Ash wasn't the only nervous one.

"You too." Ash smiled. They were both silent for a few seconds, trying to hide their blushes. Pikachu just shook his head; this confirmed in his mind that humans were really weird. He hopped off his shoulder and went to sit down at a nearby bench to give the two their moment.

After many moments of silence, the two looked at each other and locked eyes and in a single instant, Ash and Leaf saw how much they had missed each other and how happy they were that they were together again. They sprinted forward and crashed into each other in an loving embrace. After 6 years, Ash Ketchum and Leaf Green were finally reunited.

End of Chapter 4

I hope you guys like this chapter. This is also my first time writing battles, so tell me how I did. I think I did a decent job, but let me know. Criticism is always welcome, it's the only way I'll get better.

Now then, I needs a few OC's for my story. So if you want to submit your OC, here's what I want.

Name

Age

Appearance

Personality

Pokemon(Only one and it has to Mega Evolve and NO legendaries)

If you want to submit an OC, write in in a review or PM me. I'll give shoutouts to the writers who submitted. Until the next update, nWore signing out.


	5. Chapter 5

Secrets, Confessions and Revelations

**1****st**** off, I'm sorry for the lack of updates for this story. I'm really honestly surprised how many of you like this story as I feel that it's my weakest work. But, I will finish this story, though don't expect any consistent updates. I have no schedule for this story; the chapters will be up when they're done. I appreciate your guys support, but truth be told, of the 5 stories I have going on right now, this one is last in line in terms of stories I need to work on. Now then, let's get started. **

I don't own Pokemon or any of it's characters besides my own.

Chapter 5: More Reunions

"Where on earth is Ash?" Serena asked herself as she, Gary, Misty, Tracey, May, Dawn, Clemont and Bonnie walked around Shalour City looking for any sign of the raven haired trainer.

"I'm telling you, we should be looking for Leaf. Find her and you find Ash; I guarantee it." Gary said.

"I'm just wondering why he didn't wait to leave with the rest of us?" Tracey asked.

"Maybe he has a crush on Leaf?" Bonnie suggested. The group stopped in their tracks and looked at the young blonde. "What?"

"Bonnie, you do realize you're saying that about Ash, A.K.A the most dense person on the planet?" May said.

"Well, she does have a point. I mean, what other explanations are there?" Dawn asked, defending Bonnie's idea.

"Easy: Ash and Leaf are BFF's and haven't seen each other in six years. So being the impatient person that he is, he ran off to find her." Gary said. Most of the group seemed to except that answer...that is except Bonnie, Dawn and Serena. Although they had seen first hand that Ash was an impatient guy, but something seemed up here. Unknowingly, all three girls thought that perhaps there was something more to Ash and Leaf's relationship that went beyond just being friends and that was a thought that Serena did not like to think about.

Speaking of Ash, he was at a hot dog stand getting he and Leaf some hot dogs and also making sure to grab some ketchup packets for Pikachu. The vender gave him the dogs and Ash gave him some money for them. He walked back over to a nearby bench where he saw Pikachu in Leaf's lap and the girl in question was gently petting Pikachu's head and rubbing both his back and tail. Leaf's touch made the electric type coo quite a bit.

"Excuse me miss, but I believe you ordered this hot dog." Ash said, in a butler-like voice. Leaf looked up to Ash and took the hot dog from him.

"Thanks, Ash." Leaf said.

"You're welcome. And of course, I didn't forget you Pikachu." Ash said as he gave Pikachu one of the packets.

'Pika-ka Pikapi.'

"You're welcome, buddy." Ash said as Pikachu ripped opened the packet and started sucking on it.

"Why did you give him ketchup?" Leaf asked.

"For some reason, he really likes it. I have no idea why, but I give some to him every once in a while as a treat." Ash explained.

"That's weird." the brunette said.

"Yeah, it is." Ash turned towards his starter. "No offense, buddy." Pikachu just turned his back away from the two and continued sucking on the ketchup packet. "Anyway, how have you been, Leaf?"

"I've been well. I've traveled all 5 regions and I even won a Pokemon League; the Ever Grande Conference in Hoenn. I won that last year."

"Congratulations, Leaf." Ash said. "How'd you fare against their Elite 4?"

"I was able to beat 3 of them and truth be told, it was kind of easier than I thought it would be, but them Drake destroyed me." she said.

"Yeah, I know that feeling." he said back. Leaf shot him a confused look. "When I was traveling around Hoenn, my friends and I met Drake. He actually challenged me to a battle and I got beat pretty badly, but even though I lost that battle, I became a better trainer and a better person as a result from it."

"You got to battle him without winning the Ever Grande Conference? Ash, you're so lucky; I only wish I was there to see it."

"Yeah, but it's not your fault tour family had to move when they did. I just wished you had come back when we would get our 1st Pokemon."

"Umm...Ash, I did come back."

"Say what?"

"Yeah, my dad drove me back to Pallet to get my starter. I was expecting to see you, but I only saw Gary and some other guy."

Ash just sighed annoyingly. "I overslept." he admitted. Leaf giggled a bit.

"That's typical of you." she said.

"Can we please change the topic?" he asked, a bit irritated at Leaf's antics.

"Well...we could talk about the elephant in the room." she said. Ash looked to her to ask what she meant and noticed she was blushing.

"You mean about us?" Leaf nodded. "I..." Ash wasn't sure how to start the conversation.

"Look, if you're already seeing someone, just say it alright. I don't want to play games like this." she said. Ash could see tears starting to come into her beautiful eyes.

"I'm not with anyone, romantically speaking." he revealed, surprising Leaf.

"Really? I would've thought that someone has great and handsome as you are would have girls lined up, wanting to date him." What Leaf said made Ash blush.

"Well...I don't know about the handsome part, but yeah, I'm single right now. Heck, I haven't even been on a date since I started my journey.** (A/N Remember, the 'Date' episode of XY hasn't happened in this continuity yet.)**

"OK, I find it hard to believe that there isn't a single girl, besides me, that isn't interested in you." she said.

"Well...there have been." he hesistantly said.

"But..."

"But I've been pretending to be dense."

Leaf's eyebrows both raised as far as they could. "Why? If you thought that I would be upset when we would meet again that you had a girlfriend, I wouldn't."

"You wouldn't be hurt?"

"Perhaps a little, but I would be OK with it. Truth be told, I've been in a couple of relationships since we last saw each other." she admitted.

"Oh." Ash said, slightly disappointed.

Leaf caught the tone in Ash's voice. "But I'm not in one now! I always thought you were in one."

"Well, I wasn't." he said, feeling slightly better at what Leaf said.

"Let's get back to you. What other reasons are there for you pretending to be dense?" she asked.

Ash just shrugged his shoulders. "I just didn't have any interest in any of them, romantically."

"How many is them?"

"Well, 1st is Misty Waterflower."

"Cerulean's gym leader?"

"Yeah. I met her on my 1st day as a trainer. We traveled together around Kanto, Johto and The Orange Islands. I think she started having a crush on me about halfway through our Orange Islands journey and it became obvious near the end of our Johto journey. Eventually, she had to take over Cerulean Gym, so we separated. Then there were two co-ordinators: May Maple and Dawn Berlitz. Both at some point had a crush on me during my journey with them through Hoenn and Sinnoh respectively. I only saw them as younger sisters since I was always helping them train for contests, especially May. There were a few couple other girls I traveled with, but none of them showed interest in me, that way. Subsequently, I think there were like one or two girls who I think might have had feelings for me, but I was only around them for, at most, a couple of days."

"What about all those girls you traveled with?"

"They moved on. In fact, they all have boyfriends now."

"So there's nobody else?"

Ash was hesitant to answer the brunette's question, but knew he had to. "Well...there is one more: my latest female companion, Serena."

"Who's that?"

"Believe it or not, she's someone I met before you. It was at Prof. Oak's summer camp when I was had just turned 7. I found her alone and hurt out in the woods, so I helped her up and took her back to the camp. I didn't see her again once the camp ended, that is until I challenged the Santalune Gym."

"And she has a crush on you too?"

"Actually...she said she loved me." Hearing Ash say that made Leaf's jaw drop slightly.

"She said that?!"

"Yes, but not to me. I overheard her talking to my friends and she doesn't know I heard her say that."

"So...what are going to do with that information?" she asked.

Ash sighed heavily. "I don't know. Before, I was thinking about how I felt about her and perhaps telling her after the tournament. But with you back...I don't know how I feel anymore and that's something I'm not used to."

Leaf looked at Ash with sympathetic eyes. "You know, if you don't us to hang out so you can figure out what you're thinking, I'll leave." she said. She got up from the bench, but Ash grabbed her wrist before she could leave.

"No. I'll think about it later. For now, let's just keep hanging out together. After all, I haven't told you what I've done since I last saw you." he said as he got up.

"Yeah, sounds great." she said. Both of them realized that Ash was still holding Leaf's wrist. He let go of her wrist.

"Sorry."

"It's fine." Ash called for Pikachu to take his spot on Ash's shoulder, which the electric type did and the two left the bench.

While many of the competitors were walking around Shalour Stadium, there was one who was nowhere near the area. Mike Shamrock was currently inside Shalour Gym along with Korrina and her grandfather, Gurkinn. Korrina had closed the gym for as long as the tournament was underway, so this gave Mike a private battlefield to work on his strategies.

Right now, he was preparing a test with his new combo move, the Curb Stomp. As Mike was out on the battlefield instructing his Lucario and Korrina's Machoke on what to do. Korrina and her grandfather were out of ear shot, up on the railing.

"Are you sure your boyfriend knows what he's doing?" Gurkinn asked.

"He says he does. I guess he's had this move in his mind for a while now." Korrina answered. Mike walked away from the two Pokemon and walked up to Korrina and Gurkinn. Next to the two was a desk that Mike had asked for. On it was his laptop and a video camera that was connected to the laptop.

"Alright. We're just about ready to run this test." he said, while typing something on his laptop.

"I assume you've tried this test before?" Gurkinn asked.

Mike scoffed. "Of course I did. I've tested in on my own Pokemon. I just haven't been able to record it since the tests with my own Pokemon were in forests."

"So Machoke will be alright afterwards?" Korrina asked.

"That's right. There's nothing to worry about, Kore. Trust me, I've done this test a few times and after a day's rest or a quick heal at a Pokemon Center, they were ready for training like nothing had happened to them." he said, looking right at the blonde.

"I trust you; more than anyone." she said. The comment made Mike smile. He leaned forward and gave Korrina a peck on her cheek, making the blonde blush slightly. He turned back to make sure everything on his laptop was up and running.

"OK, Lucario and Machoke, get into your battle stances." he said, which the two obliged. "And...go!" he said.

Machoke threw a punch at Lucario, but the Aura Pokemon dodged it and started using Close Combat. Lucario initially focused on Machoke's head, throwing punches and forearm shots, but then started targeting Machoke's thighs by kicking them repeatedly. After several kicks to his thighs, Machoke went down to his knees. Then, Lucario took a few steps back and rushed up and kicked Machoke right in his face, bring the fighting type down on it's stomach.

"Is that it?" Gurkinn asked.

"Nope. That was the 1st part." Mike answered. "Lucario, begin the 2nd part!" he yelled to his partner. Lucario nodded her head and jumped back far enough to get a running start. A few moments later, Machoke started to try and get back up on his feet. "Go!" Mike once again yelled to Lucario. She shook her right foot, which suddenly caught on fire and ran right to Machoke, who was on his knees, about to get up when Lucario placed her right foot onto the back of Machoke's head and drove it right back into the ground! A small cloud of dust covered the field for a minute. When it cleared, Machoke was still down and Lucario was now a couple of steps away from him.

The three went to the battlefield to check on Machoke. Mike rolled him over and all three saw that Machoke had swirls in his eyes. Gurkinn checked Machoke to make sure he didn't have any serious injures and was relieved to see that there weren't any serious injurys that couldn't be solved by a healing from Nurse Joy.

"He'll be alright." Gurkinn said. "I'll go ahead and take him to the Pokemon Center." he said. Korrina handed her grandfather Machoke's Pokeball. He returned the fighting type and left the battlefield.

Mike turned towards his partner. "Well done, Lucario." he said, extending his fist. Lucario did the same with her paw and the two's met in a fist bump.

"Wow, that was so cool! But, how did Lucario set her foot on fire?" Korrina asked.

"It's Blaze Kick. Myself and Prof. Rowan are certain that one of Lucario's parents was a fire type; most likely a Blaziken." Mike answered.

"So Blaze Kick's an egg move?"

"Yep. It's comes in handy as many aren't expecting it."

"Excuse me!" A voice yelled. The two turned to the entrance of the battlefield to see one of Shalour Gym's assistants calling out to them. "Mr. Shamrock, they're are going to reveal the matches for round 2 in a few minutes!" he said.

"Thank you for informing us." he said. He turned back to Korrina and Lucario. "Shall we?" he said, extending his arm for his lady.

"We shall." she responded as the two linked arms and walked out the gym together with Lucario walking right behind them.

Meanwhile, Ash's friends had continued their search for Ash and Leaf with no success. Suddenly, a voice rang out over the speakers.

"_Attention all remaining competitors, the 2nd round matches for the Knights of Mega Evolution Tournament will be revealed in the Pokemon Center in five minutes!_" the voice said.

"How much you guys want to bet we'll find Ash and Leaf there?" Misty joked.

"If we don't, then as far as I'm concerned, it's a sign that the world's ending." Gary joked right back.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Serena said as she started running. She ran no more than a few feet before she accidentally bumped into someone, sending her down to the ground. Her friends rushed up to her and helped her up.

"I'm so sorry, miss. I wasn't looking." the person she bumped into said.

"It's alright, I wasn't really paying attention myse-"

"Serena?" the person asked. Serena looked at who she bumped into. The person wore a long sleeved version of Ash's jacket, blue pants, black boots, a red hat with sunglasses over them, a bag over his shoulder and a mega ring on his wrist. Serena realized who it was when she saw the black hair that was out of his hat and more importantly, his grayish-blue eyes.

"Calem?!"

End of Chapter 5

**Now before I get a millions reviews all asking the same question, let me make one thing perfectly clear: Just because Calem is now in the story doesn't mean that FurtherShipping will win! I'm just covering my bases by bringing him in so Serena can have her own happy ending should she not end up being with Ash.**

**Anyway, be sure to favorite, follow and leave a review. Also, a special shout-out to LightRayPearlshipper for his constructive reviews. They've certainly motivated me to make this story better.**

**I don't know when my next update will be as June will be a very busy month for me. I'll try to update by August, but I can't make any promises.**

**Until next time, this is the man known as nWore signing out!**


End file.
